THE UNIVERSITY DAIRY KANSAN
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>> PGA TOUR
Unlikely golfer victorious
DOUG FERGUSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Mark Calcavecchia might have to unpack his bags again, this time to make room for an unlikely trophy.
Calcavechia, ready to leave Innisbrook after opening with a 75, survived a wild swing in emotions Sunday and won the PODS Championship when Heath Slocum missed a 4-foot par putt on the final hole.
Calcavechia closed with a 1-under 70 and never lost the lead, but his stomach was churning the whole way around. He had a two-shot lead and stood over a 4-foot burtle pitched on the 15th hole that he missed, then had to hang on for dear life.
With Calcavecchia ahead by one shot, his 8-iron came up short of the 18th green and he missed a 7-foot par putt. Slocum needed only to make par from 4 feet to force a playoff. The putt dived in and out of the cup on the left side, and Calcavecchia bowed his head and cupped his cap.
"I was all over the place," he said.
"I never expected him to miss that."
Calcavechia won for the 13th time in his career and with $954,000 went past $20 million for his career. He finished at 10-under 274.
Getting a nice cut of that paycheck is his caddie, Eric Larson, who got caught up in a small-time drug operation and was sent to prison for 11 years. Calcaveccia said he would put him back to work when he got out of jail, and they've been together the last year.
"He's been a great friend throughout the whole ordeal," said Larson, one of the most likable loopers on tour. "I'm thankful and grateful for my friends who stood by me."
It was a big blow for Slocum, who
rallied from a wretched start to close with a 71. He played on the same Milton High School team in the Florida Panhandle as Boo Weekley, who last week missed a 3-foot par putt to win the Honda Classic.
Slocum and John Senden, who closed with a 66, shared second at 275.
Lucas Glover, among five players who had a share of the lead at some point on a sunny afternoon, three-putted the 18th in a bold bid to make birdie to keep alive his hopes. He wound up with a 69 and tied for fourth with Brian Gay (69). Charles Howell III shot 65 and was another shot behind with defending champion KJ. Choi (72).
It was awild week for Calcavechia, a streaky player who showed both sides in the final round.
A triple bogey-bogey finish Thursday that sent him to a 75 — with 36 putts, no less — made him pack his bags so he could get an early start on traffic when he missed the cut the next day. But using a putter he bought last weekend for $256.18 — he knows the price because he rarely buys any club — he shot 67, then tied the course record with a 62 in the third round to share the lead.
The final 18 holes featured long putts and short misses.
He figured the last one might cost him. Having hit a beautiful tee shot on the 18th, he hung his head while his 8-iron was still in the air, knowing it wasn't enough. It came up a yard short in grass so thick that Larson had to show him where it was. Calcavechia chopped it out to 7 feet, and his par putt caught the right lip.
Slocum had a 25-foot birdie putt that was difficult because the ball picks up speed around the hole. He left it short, then missed the most crucial one of the day.
The victory was the first for the 46-year-old Calcavecchia since the 2005 Canadian Open. It put him into the World Golf Championship at Doral in two weeks, and gives him an outside shot of qualifying for the Masters. Calcavecchia moved up to 7 on the money list, and the top 10 after Doral get into the Masters.
From the time he stuffed his approach to 2 feet on the second hole for birdie, Calcavecchia never lost the lead, and he built the margin to three shots when he knocked in a 10-foot birdie on the tough sixth hole to reach 11 under.
Four holes later, he was in a three-way tie.
Calkaveechia missed the eighth and 10th green to make bogeys, while Senden and Glover were quietly picking off enough birdies to join him atop the leaderboard at 9 under.
Calcavecchia regained the lead by laying up on the par-5 11th and hitting wedge into 3 feet, then holed a 30-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 13th and a 20-foot birdie putt on the 14th to seize control — only to lose momentum by missing a 4-foot birdie on the 15th that might have sealed the victory.
Not many would have guessed Stoucum would be there to battle him down the stretch after his double bogey on No. 2 He was four shots behind going to the back nine.
But he didn't make any mistakes the rest of the way, firing off three straight birdies to get back into contention, and pulling within one shot when Calcavecchia bogeyed the 16th.
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Friday Arkansas 8. Kansas 7
WP — Dallas Keuchel (2-1)
allowed just one run in 3 2/3 innings of relief.
LP — Zach Ashwood (2-2) gave up six earned runs on six hits in his 4 2/3-inning start.
Momentum went back and forth in an 8-7 Arkansas victory.
in its first trip to No. 10 Arkansas (11-5) since 2003, Kansas (11-6) couldn't quite muster up the comeback.
Although the pitching wasn't what coach Ritch Price was looking for, the Jayhawk offense was nothing less than potent. > Bottom 3rd: Razorback lead-off hitter Jake Dugger tagged a
tied the game when he singled off Ashwood's glove, driving in two runs
home run into the Kansas bullpen. The senior centerheader's shot highlighted his 3-5 day.
> Top 5th: Junior second baseman Ryne Price singled to shallow right for the Jayhawks' second hit of the game. Junior right helper Brock Simpson and senior designated hitter Ross Kelling each singled to right to spark a five-run inning. Senior centerheader Kyle Murphy smashed a three-run triple to give his team a 5-2 edge.
> Bottom 5th: Lefty Zach Ashwood surrendered a five-spot to the Razorbacks, giving up the lead. Catcher Jeff Nutt
> Top 9th. In their last at bat, the Javahays scrapped hard only to fall short. Junior designated hitter Joe Servais led off with a single. Arkansas brought in Chris Rhoads to seal the deal. Murphy crushed a two-run home run to left field. It not enough, as Kansas fell 8-7 in the series opener.
Notes: Junior left fielder John
Allman had a 10 game hit streak
snapped ... Freshman third
baseman Robby Price extended
his hit streak to nine games.
Saturday Arkansas 4. Kansas 0
LP — Nick Czayz (2-2) lost after surrendering three runs off three hits in seven innings, his longest hit of the season.
WP — Nick Schmidt (4-0)
pitched eight scoreless innings.
He allowed just three hits and
struck out eight.
Both Kansas (11-7) and Arkansas (12-5) put up just four hits, but it was Arkansas who struck hits, walks and errors together. In the battle of the Nicks, All-American Schmidt came on top, but the lines looked nearly identical until the top of the eighth.
> Bottom 2-With the bases loaded, Czyz walked first base
man Danny Hamblin to score third baseman Logan Forsythe. Czyz smoothly worked himself out of the jam when he got a double play to end the inning. > Bottom 8th: After a controversial infield hit, ruled first as an effort, sophomore right-hander Paul Smyth came in to relieve Czyz. Czyz had already thrown two balls to shortstop Matt Willard, and Smyth threw two more to walk Willard. Typically a rally stopper, Smyth hit center fielder Jake Dugger with a bad throw as he tried to throw him out on a sacrifice bunt. The error scored the inning's lead-off
Dugger scored off the only bonafide hit of the inning as Forsythe singled up the middle. The unearned run was charged to Smyth, his first run allowed this season.
batter, pushing Arkansas's lead to 3-0.
Notes: Freshman third baseman Robby Price extended his hit streak to 10 games when he singled in the fourth, one of just three hits the Jahwahks managed against Schmidt. ... The attendance of 6,911 in Baum Stadium was the biggest crowd Kansas has played in front of this season.
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